Bird Flu may seem a world away to UW-Madison students, but a Madison wildlife center is helping out in the effort to keep H5N1 avian influenza out of America.
The National Wildlife Health Center on Madison's west side employs about 60 people and has been involved most notably in combating Chronic Wasting Disease in recent years.
But now, several of the center's scientists are on a field trip of sorts, examining migratory birds in Alaska for signs of the lethal H5N1 strain of bird flu.
According to Chris Brand, Chief of Field and Lab Research at the NWHC, migratory birds coming to America from Siberia and China could bring bird flu with them. Brand said migratory birds represent 'only one of a number' of ways that bird flu could spread, but that NWHC efforts in Alaska are important nonetheless.
Migratory birds could spread the disease rapidly as they travel far greater distances than poultry. But, humans also have less contact with migratory birds than with chickens and turkeys.
The center currently uses $2 million of the $11 million set aside for the Department of the Interior's bird flu efforts by President Bush, according to Gail Moede of the NWHC.
Brand said the money is enough to allow limited research, like the work being done in Alaska.
'We're targeting,' Brand said, 'which is an attempt to optimize our chances based on the resources we have.'
According to Chris Olsen, Professor of Public Health at UW-Madison, NWHC efforts are an important part of monitoring bird flu. Olsen said a proactive approach is needed to protect the public.
'You're never going to find what you don't look for,' Olsen said.
Though the NWHC is independent of the University, both Brand and Olsen said there is frequent communication between scientists. And UW-Madison graduates, including Brand, often take jobs at the NWHC.
'It's a pretty close arrangement,' Brand said.
Olsen said America is currently at a lower risk of bird flu than Europe or Asia.
'We have the benefit of separation by oceans and I would suspect that's going to be a major advantage for us,' Olsen said.
But Brand stressed that if the virus becomes transmittable between humans, disaster could arise.
'But that's a big if,' Brand said.
